http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/
I got this link from my friend, Carolyn. It seems like a good resource for raw feeding. I've had a problem with a couple of dogs, the bulldog in particular, gulping their meal. Not a problem if it's ground but bones need to be chewed a bit or they (sorry for this) come back up. Usually right away.
I posted earlier that I group feed. Maybe they need more space? It is suggested in the archives not to hover or else they can worry about me taking the food away. Hmmm. But what is supervising and what is hovering? And yes, I will take something away if there's a problem. I'm the alpha right?
For now I am going to try just offering bones from larger animals: beef and pork and mutton.
There's a lot to learn.
Showing posts with label raw feeding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label raw feeding. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
group feeding
I feed my dogs together. Unless the adults have a recreational bone, and hence more time than I care to spend supervising, Thomas or I feed them all together, separate bowls but shared space. By shared space I need to make clear that they have plenty of room to wander around if they finish.
I fed Kayla and Skye in their crates until we got Celie and Gus. When I got Celie, Kim told me how she feeds her dogs. And I watched Cesar Milan demonstrate how he feeds on his DVD. I don't know if I would want to feed this way with that many dogs. Four is working, and that's with little sneak-thief Kayla who wolfs her portion down and then sees if she can snatch a bite from the others.
Honestly, I don't think Gus would have eaten this morning if he hadn't had competition. (Is this similar to us? We will eat even if not hungry when we see others enjoying food. Which is probably why I can't lose the extra 20-30 lbs. I've packed on since moving to FL.)
I can guess that some may view this as a problem but it has been working for these two months. There have been no fights because we watch over them and make sure they leave each other's meal alone until they are walking away from it. If they have a rec bone I put them in their crates. If I have no time to watch over them I put them in their crates.
It's been interesting. I can see how they eat and know what they prefer. Celie for instance is very particular. She likes to eat the muscle meat bits first, then the cottage cheese and last the organ meat. Gus-Gus eats his all together. Kayla eats everything as quickly as possible and is usually the first one finished. She is like this in her crate as well. Skye takes his time and when finished likes to lick his lips for a while and make sure he's got all the bits off his teeth.
My understanding is this enforces pack bonding and that Thomas and I are the alphas. The alpha decides who gets to eat. We make each dog sit before they get their meal. When one dog sits he gets fed and the others are kept back while he gets to eat. They soon realize they aren't getting theirs until they listen. Kayla has taken the longest to get this concept and at first had to be made to sit by us pushing her butt down. Now she is getting with the program and sits although still is usually the last one to do so.
I know this sounds involved, complicated, but it really only takes about 5 minutes.
I fed Kayla and Skye in their crates until we got Celie and Gus. When I got Celie, Kim told me how she feeds her dogs. And I watched Cesar Milan demonstrate how he feeds on his DVD. I don't know if I would want to feed this way with that many dogs. Four is working, and that's with little sneak-thief Kayla who wolfs her portion down and then sees if she can snatch a bite from the others.
Honestly, I don't think Gus would have eaten this morning if he hadn't had competition. (Is this similar to us? We will eat even if not hungry when we see others enjoying food. Which is probably why I can't lose the extra 20-30 lbs. I've packed on since moving to FL.
I can guess that some may view this as a problem but it has been working for these two months. There have been no fights because we watch over them and make sure they leave each other's meal alone until they are walking away from it. If they have a rec bone I put them in their crates. If I have no time to watch over them I put them in their crates.
It's been interesting. I can see how they eat and know what they prefer. Celie for instance is very particular. She likes to eat the muscle meat bits first, then the cottage cheese and last the organ meat. Gus-Gus eats his all together. Kayla eats everything as quickly as possible and is usually the first one finished. She is like this in her crate as well. Skye takes his time and when finished likes to lick his lips for a while and make sure he's got all the bits off his teeth.
My understanding is this enforces pack bonding and that Thomas and I are the alphas. The alpha decides who gets to eat. We make each dog sit before they get their meal. When one dog sits he gets fed and the others are kept back while he gets to eat. They soon realize they aren't getting theirs until they listen. Kayla has taken the longest to get this concept and at first had to be made to sit by us pushing her butt down. Now she is getting with the program and sits although still is usually the last one to do so.
I know this sounds involved, complicated, but it really only takes about 5 minutes.
Monday, June 18, 2007
on feeding
Like many dog owners concerned over the quality of commercial dog food I have recently switched to raw, homemade meals and treats for my dogs. We have four dogs, each with slightly different needs. While I vary the theme for each of them I am as practical with their food prep as I am with my human family of 5. Same basic meal with a little extra this or that depending on their individual needs.
We start with meat. Columbia River Natural Pet Foods has a wide variety of meat. Some like the chicken with bones and beef mixes are less expensive than what you pay for hamburger. Other meats they offer are less expensive than what those meats intended for human consumption. But if I can't get to the specialty pet stores that sell it I use ground beef. I use ground meats particularly for the puppies as their teeth and jaws aren't strong enough to tear the meat away or break up the bones. For the adult dogs I offer meaty bones including chicken thighs, legs, wings, parts of the whole chickens that my human family won't eat (necks, backs, etc.), soup bones, oxtails, knuckle bones. When it comes to the chicken bones I've been amazed at how they wolf them down. Frankly I was worried at first as they seem to bite down hard, crack the bones and swallow them virtually whole. After several weeks neither of my adult dogs has had any problems resulting from this and I am not finding any evidence of the bones not being digested. Feces seems normal, occasionally whiter than before I fed them raw. I admit, however, that this is hardly a scientific study of the matter and controversy continues about whether to feed unground bones, raw or not to your pets. All I can say is thus far there have been no problems.
One meat I am sure to feed only after cooking is salmon. Raw salmon and trout from the Pacific Northwest can contain a parasite that can make dogs sick or even kill them. I've read that freezing the fish for 24 hours kills the parasite but need to do more research. I prefer to give canned salmon with the bones. I also sometimes have fed canned sardines or tuna.
To the meaty bones or ground meat/bone mixtures we add 1 T. yogurt or cottage cheese for the beneficial bacteria, an egg with the extra Omega Fatty Acids or more usually a squirt of EFA supplement, and a vitamin mix made by Holistic Pet Center . I am going to start adding more vitamin C. Dogs, like humans, no longer produce this important antioxidant. A friend and mentor, Kim Shira, who turned me on to feeding raw told me that they have found that supplementing with vitamin C aids in the prevention of hip dysplastia. (Yes, this is a genetic disease but it apparently prevents the problem from fully manifesting.) I will add a little more each day to determine how much each dog can tolerate. The feces starts to get too loose and I'll cut back to the more tolerated dose.
As far as how much my adult dogs, Skye and Kayla are getting about one cup or so of food twice a day. My 4-month-old puppy, Celie gets about 3/4 cup 3 times a day and Gus-Gus, the 6-month bulldog eats about 1 1/4 cups 3 times a day. And they all get a treat every so often. All are maintaining healthy weight with good muscle tone and little body fat.
As I say I am very new to this way of feeding my dogs. But I am happy with the results. It is costing us more. Probably 2-3 times more depending on what I can find on sale. So I make my own coffee and don't get one of those overpriced, fattening hot milkshakes at the gourmet coffee stores. Well, not as often. It seems to be evening out.
We start with meat. Columbia River Natural Pet Foods has a wide variety of meat. Some like the chicken with bones and beef mixes are less expensive than what you pay for hamburger. Other meats they offer are less expensive than what those meats intended for human consumption. But if I can't get to the specialty pet stores that sell it I use ground beef. I use ground meats particularly for the puppies as their teeth and jaws aren't strong enough to tear the meat away or break up the bones. For the adult dogs I offer meaty bones including chicken thighs, legs, wings, parts of the whole chickens that my human family won't eat (necks, backs, etc.), soup bones, oxtails, knuckle bones. When it comes to the chicken bones I've been amazed at how they wolf them down. Frankly I was worried at first as they seem to bite down hard, crack the bones and swallow them virtually whole. After several weeks neither of my adult dogs has had any problems resulting from this and I am not finding any evidence of the bones not being digested. Feces seems normal, occasionally whiter than before I fed them raw. I admit, however, that this is hardly a scientific study of the matter and controversy continues about whether to feed unground bones, raw or not to your pets. All I can say is thus far there have been no problems.
One meat I am sure to feed only after cooking is salmon. Raw salmon and trout from the Pacific Northwest can contain a parasite that can make dogs sick or even kill them. I've read that freezing the fish for 24 hours kills the parasite but need to do more research. I prefer to give canned salmon with the bones. I also sometimes have fed canned sardines or tuna.
To the meaty bones or ground meat/bone mixtures we add 1 T. yogurt or cottage cheese for the beneficial bacteria, an egg with the extra Omega Fatty Acids or more usually a squirt of EFA supplement, and a vitamin mix made by Holistic Pet Center . I am going to start adding more vitamin C. Dogs, like humans, no longer produce this important antioxidant. A friend and mentor, Kim Shira, who turned me on to feeding raw told me that they have found that supplementing with vitamin C aids in the prevention of hip dysplastia. (Yes, this is a genetic disease but it apparently prevents the problem from fully manifesting.) I will add a little more each day to determine how much each dog can tolerate. The feces starts to get too loose and I'll cut back to the more tolerated dose.
As far as how much my adult dogs, Skye and Kayla are getting about one cup or so of food twice a day. My 4-month-old puppy, Celie gets about 3/4 cup 3 times a day and Gus-Gus, the 6-month bulldog eats about 1 1/4 cups 3 times a day. And they all get a treat every so often. All are maintaining healthy weight with good muscle tone and little body fat.
As I say I am very new to this way of feeding my dogs. But I am happy with the results. It is costing us more. Probably 2-3 times more depending on what I can find on sale. So I make my own coffee and don't get one of those overpriced, fattening hot milkshakes at the gourmet coffee stores. Well, not as often. It seems to be evening out.
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